by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

I've followed Adam & Helen Tolmach's wines from the very start, when they were made in Mary Vigorosa's dairy barn w/ Bob Lindquist and Jim Clendennan up in LosAlamos. Since the early '90's, there has been a dramatic increase in their quality, making them some of the best wines being made in the CentralCoast these days. So it's always a pleasure to visit Adam and see what he's got coming down the pike.

Up early down in Pasadena, do some fencing drills, stop for a double espresso, and then  a leasurily backroad drive to Ojai via SimiVlly, Moorpark, Fillmore, and then into Ojai. Explore a little bit of downtown Ojai for my first time. Kind of touristy and not much to interest me. Drive on down to OakView and meet up w/ Larry Archibald for our 3:00pm appointment. Since his small Syrah vnyd was destroyed by Pierce'sDisease several yrs ago there on his property, Adam has solely been buying grapes from a number of sources. He gets the entireity of the RollRanch crop in upper Ojai. By buying on an acreage basis, rather than a tonnage basis,  and ruthlessly dropping a lot of crop, Adam sheepishly admits that he's paying more for his grapes than anyone else in SantaBarbaraCnty, according to the annual price/crop reports. But it shows in the quality and intensity of his wines. 

Adam has been working w/ a few new Syrah vnyds this year. The Vogelzang Vnyd is just east of the Gainey vnyd and planted to the Davis clone of Syrah. The WhiteHawk vnyd is planted on pure sand up in Cat Canyon, to the west of Buellton, definitely cool-climate Syrah. And also the Melville vnyd, planted just next to Babcock, even further west of Buellton. This yr will be first crops of these vnyds and Adam will vinify them separately and see how they stack up  against his usual vnyd Syrahs.

Adam mentions that in his Fall offering, he will have another Travail de l'Anglais (blend of PinotNoir and Syrah from the barrel leavings during bttlg, cleaned up, settled, and lighhtly filtered) and a '98 Rhone Red blend and a special btlg of RollRanch Syrah, designated E-H from the Estrella clone of Syrah from a Hillside block on leaner soils on RollRanch. Adam has never been one to show much enthusiasm for the marketing of his wines (Bob Lindquist refers to him as an anti-salesman). Now that he's getting some recognition for his wines and he's not a well-kept secret anymore, it's not as much a concern to him. Consequently, Adam decided to  forego HdR this year and spend more time w/ his family; something I highly respect him for. Later on, Helen comes down to say hello with the two boys, Benjamin and Henry; two really neat little boys, absolutely full of it.

So it's off to the barrels to taste a few things:

1. Ojai Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (WesterlyVnyd) '99: Lovely SB/floral nose; very tart spicy/floral/herbal/ SB flavor; lots of concentration and richness; very nicely done SB.
2. Ojai Vineyard RhoneBlanc (80% StolpmanVnyd Roussanne, 20% RollRanch Viognier) '99: Beautiful fragrant/ floral/honeysuckly/spicy/perfumey bit minerally nose; big rich lush/floral/honeysuckle/spicy mouthfilling flavor; lots of Viognier aromatics but big structure of Roussanne; one of the best Rhone blancs I've tasted ever.
3. Ojai Vineyard Roussanne (StolpmanVnyd) '99: More subdued floral/appley bit minerally/earthy some oaked nose; more lean/hard intense floral/appley/minerally/earthy flavor; a bit strange/ interesting blanc; the Roussanne component of the above bland; the Viognier really changes the nature of this wine.
4. Ojai Vineyard BienNacidoVnyd Chard '99: Lovely spicy/cinammony/appley very lush/rich/melony Chard nose; rather tart/hard very spicy/cloves/melony/Chard bit toasty/oaked flavor; quite intense Chard w/ plenty of acid.
5. Ojai Vineyard Clos Pepe Vineyard Chard '99: from very close plantings w/ the Dijon clone; rather tobaccoy/ charred/oaked lush/minerally/Chard nose; tart/rich very/tobaccoy/toasty strong hard/minerally/ Chard flavor.
6. Ojai Vineyard Clos Pepe Vineyard Chard '99: from an older barrel; bit more monochromatic/melony/Chard nose; tart/hard melony/minerally/Chard flavor; rich yet hard & lean.
7. Ojai Vineyard Talley/RinconVnyd Chard (14.9%) '99: Very melony/Chard/rich/spicy/fragrant nose; tart  big/rich/huge/mouthfilling melony/Chard bit toasty flavor; a big/huge/extracted Chard
8. Ojai Vineyard BienNacidoVnyd PinotNoir (14.5%) '99: cropped at about 1 ton/acre; some pencilly/toasty very pure floral/violets/PN nose; beautiful lush/floral/violets/black cherry/PN bit pencilly/ toasty flavor; terrif pure Pinot w/ some Burgundian overtones.
9. Ojai Vineyard PisoniVnyd Monterey PinotNoir '99: Very spicy/fragrant complex/bit herbal light toasty/ oak nose; tart beautiful/complex very spicy/peppery light herbal/Burgundian flavor; a very big/ extracted Pinot w/ lots & lots of spicy character; a special Pinot.
10. Ojai Vineyard StolpmanVnyd Grenache '99: from the standard Calif clone; deep dark color; lovely raspberry/ blackberry/floral nose; big tannic very tart blackberry/raspberry fairly extracted flavor; not as big as the Alban but one of the best I've had from Calif; terrific Grenache.
11. Ojai Vineyard StolpmanVnyd Mourvedre '99: grapes a bit underripe; Dark color; rather gamey/licorice bit funky/strange nose; tart very hard/lean licorice/gamey/earthy flavor; a bit Tempier in character; needs something to round it out.
12. Ojai Vineyard StolpmanVnyd Syrah '99: Dark color; bit closed some licorice/blackberry nose; tart/hard/ tannic/closed some earthy/blackberry/gamey flavor; seems hard & closed right now.
13. Ojai Vineyard ThompsonVnyd Syrah '99: Black color; intense licorice/boysenberry/blackberry dusty/gamey/ peppery nose; big huge licorice/boysenberry/blackberry/peppery/dusty bit toasty/oak flavor; another killer Thompson Syrah.
14. Ojai Vineyard RollRanch Syrah '99: cropped about 2&3/4'ths ton/acre; Durell clone; Dark color; beautiful licorice/blackberry very spicy/peppery/fragrant nose; hard tart very spicy licorice/blackberry pretty tannic peppery flavor; another killer RR Syrah.
15. Ojai Vineyard RollRanch Syrah '99: Estrella clone; bit simpler/clunkier not as spicy & complex &  aromatic as the Durell clobe
16. Ojai Vineyard E-H (RollRanch) Syrah '99: Dark color; very forward/spicy very fragrant/perfumed blackberry/ licorice nose; big extracted/perfumey licorice/blackberry/dusty/peppery flavor; another killer Syrah w/ lots of perfume to it.
17. Ojai Vineyard BienNacidoVnyd Syrah '99: not yet trhu M/L; Dark color; some gamey rather plummy/blackberry/ chocolaty deep/lush nose; big very tart/tannic plummy/blackberry/chocolaty flavor; lots of the BN plummy/black cherry character.

and then Adam starts ripping corks outta btls w/ reckless abandon to preview the Fall release:

1. Ojai Vineyard RhoneRed (2/3 Grenache, 1/6 Mourvedre, 1/6 Syrah) '98: Black color; very fragrant/ blackberry/licorice deep very spicy not very Grenachy complex nose; tart/rich/tannic/complex fragrant blackberry/gamey/licorice intense flavor; a seriously serious Rhone blend; killer.
2. Ojai Vineyard PisoniVnyd PinotNoir '98: Very dark color; beautiful/georgeous very spicy/fragrant/ perfumey/violets/complex very Burgundian nose; rich big very spicy/damp forest/perfumed/floral/ violets fairly tannic flavor; this is how Madam Bize-Leroy would make Pisoni Pinot if she could.
3. Ojai Vineyard ThompsonVnyd Syrah '98: Black color; very intense dusty/licorice/boysenberry/blackberry very peppery/spicy nose; deep intense/extracted licorice/boysenberry/dusty very spicy/peppery flavor; huge extracted Syrah; needs age.
4. Bedford-Thompson Syrah '97: Dark color; very volatile some pickle-juice some blackberry/Syrah nose; hot/volatile earthy/blackberry flavor; marred by far too much VA/EA.
5. Ojai Vineyard E-H Syrah (RollRanch) '98: Black color; bit closed licorice/toasty/peppery/dusty nose; closed/tannic rather peppery/dusty/licorice/blackberry very spicy flavor; huge wine on the palate but seems a bit closed right now; should be another great Ojai Syrah.

All in all, Adam's Fall release has got some pretty spectacular wines in it. I particular; his red Rhone blend is not to be missed, very serious red wine. And the '99's from barrel seem some of Adam's best wines yet. They just keep getting better and better.

Dinner at Larry & Laura's in Santa Barbara

After bidding adieu to Adam, Helen, and the boys; Larry & I put it into overdrive and head up  101 for dinner at their new home in SantaBarbara, right on the beach. Joining us for an early dinner are Craig Jaffurs and his wife, Lee Wardlaw. Lee is a well-known (at least in those circles) author of children's books, most of which I've read w/ great pleasure. That's NOT a comment on my intellectual level of reading material!! Well-written children's books are also entertaining to adult readers as well. Although I'd known Craig for some 4-5 yrs, I had never met Lee before. She was particularly excited in that her book "101 Ways to Bug Your Parents" had just been banned in Oklahoma, certain to help its sales. Craig was heading up to the Mt.Shasta area for a fishing shindig put on by one of his distributors, so wanted to get a few hrs on the road that night; hence an early dinner. Son Patterson, alas, was left w/ the baby-sitter.

Whilst Larry & I had been mainlining Ojai wines, Laura had been slaveing away in the kitchen. Although Larry&Laura had recently purchased a SantaBarbara home, it still seemed..... not quite Larry&Laura.... there was not a 5 month old Christmas tree still standing in the living room as is their usual style. As usual, Laura's dinner was a tour-de-force:

• Fresh Aspargras & Corn Soup
• Mushroom/Beets/Parmaggianno/Pecan Hash
• Pan-Sauteed Lamb Chops & Oven-Roasted Potatoes
• Cornmeal/Almond Tart

and the wines wern't too shabby either:

1. WernerTyrell Eitelsbacher Karthausser Hofberger Krononberg Auslese '71: Deep gold color; beautiful complex old Rhine/buttery bit pencilly/fragrant nose; dry/tart slight bitter complex/pencilly/ complex flavor; still alive & great fragrance in the nose but drying out a bit on the palate.
2. Jaffurs SantaBarbaraCnty Viognier (Stolpman & BienNacido vnyds) '98: Pale yellow color; very  fragrant Viognier/pear/spicy nose; tart rich/minerally lovely pear/Viognier flavor; very long/ lingering pear/Viognier/minerally finish; lovely rather spare Viognier that's really picked up some richness since its release last Fall.
3. Bosquet des Papes Cheteauneuf du Pape Maurice Boiron '98: Med.dark color; fairly earthy/dusty slight roasted low fruit nose; soft fairly pungent/smokey light roasted/earthy low fruit flavor; a pleasant/simple CdP but just that.
4. Jaffurs Santa BarbaramCnty Thonpson Vnyd Syrah (Special Bttlg) '97: When Craig bttld his '97's, this one barrel of ThompsonVnyd Syrah had a raging brett infection growing in it & so he didn't btl it & was going to dump it down the drain. After forgetting about it, he tried it, liked it, so filtered it & bttld it: Verty dark color; beautiful/complex some toasted/roasted/Rhonish bit pungent/blackberry/Syrah/licorice nose; big rich very pungent/smokey/toasty/oak very Rhonish some blackberry/Syrah flavor; long very pungent/roasted/smokey finish w/ some tannins; a bit softer & much more Rhone character than the regular Syrah; terrific Syrah; destined to be sold entirely to Dan Phillips (Grateful Palate).
5. Foxen Santa Ynez Vlly Morehouse Vnyd Syrah '97: Very dark color; strong dusty/smokey rather blackberry/ Syrah bit subdued/closed some toasty/oak nose; big hard/tannic/pungent toasty/oak slight blackberry/Syrah flavor; needs 2-4 yrs; seems a bit hard & closed & bit short on fruit. D'Arenberg The Noble Riesling McLarenVale '97: Deep gold color; intense botrytis/peachy/butter- scotchy/caramel some oaked/pencilly nose; off-dry some bitter slight caramel/oxidized rather butterscotchy/pudding some pencilly/oak flavor; lots of botrytis but not that much richness and sweetness; disappointing.
6. Henry of Pelham Riesling Icewine Niagara Peninsula '98: Pale yellow color; intense grapey/simple/ clean nose; soft very intense grapey/grapefruity lush rather clean/simple flavor; loads of grapiness & loads of sugar but not much else.

Bid adieu to Lee & Craig and then it's off to bed as Larry loads the dishwasher. Wake up around 3:00 am and hear water noises and think that it's and awfully long-running dishwasher they have here, until I realize that it's the ocean just outside the doors that's making all the noise.

TomHill

1. TomHill